Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Maddux Trade

The rumors that surfaced yesterday were true (strangely enough), and today we officially traded Greg Maddux to the Dodgers.

As was reported a few weeks ago, we engaged in conversations with the Dodgers prior to the trading deadline in July but weren't able to come to an agreement. We were under no pressure to move his salary, so we were perfectly happy to keep Greg here in San Diego unless there was a baseball deal that made sense for the Padres. We feel that is the case with this deal.

I'm not permitted to speak about any of the players that are rumored to be involved in this transaction, so unfortunately, I can't answer any questions along those lines. Though I wish I could share that info with you, I have always felt badly for players who read rumors about getting traded. It must be incredibly difficult for any player and all of his friends and family to live with that type of anticipation for a period of time. Even if the player isn't traded, it still must play on his psyche going forward to some degree.

When the appropriate time comes, I'll share our views of the players in this deal. In the meantime, we wish Greg the absolute best. In addition to being the greatest pitcher of this era, he has been a fantastic teammate. All of us - players, staff, front office, fans - benefited from his time as a Padre.

35 comments:

I'm excited to see what you guys were able to squeeze out of Colletti. While it has just been 2.2 innings, Falkenborg looks like his minor league numbers were no fluke. I saw him hit 97 on the gun and his location looks quite good.

Obviously the jury is still out on him, but if you got him for free, I'm curious as to see what you guys got for Maddux.

This concerns me. I am reading that the trade is for two players or Cash Considerations? Please tell us it is not the latter! If this is the case, this orginazition will lose a lot of face by completing such a transaction. I understand you can not elaborate about the players involved, but can you confirm that it is for 2 players and not cash?

That is fantastic! I figured as such, but I know there is a lot of gossip going on about our projected payroll next year (a lot of junk if you ask me). I hope you all in the front office took advantage of Neds' disposition with Penny heading to the DL!

I realize you cannot mention any possible players the Pads might receive, but can you shed any light on the process? For example, did LA/SD agree on a larger list of players from which the Pads can choose two on a defined date, etc? Might it include a player the Dodgers drafted this year who can't be traded within a year of signing? When can we expect to learn who the new player(s) are? Thanks.

I just heard an interview with Kevin Towers. He said they have preselected 5 minor league players from the Dodgers organization and they will choose 2 of them by October 15th. The 'or cash considerations' is supposed to be a backup plan in case of injury or poor performance from those players. I didn't catch the whole interview and don't know if he named the players.

Paul,Perhaps you could discuss the mechanics of how a player to be named later deal works. Do teams agree to trade x-number of players with each team exchanging lists of prospects from which to choose? Is a deal like this done because of injury considerations? The need for expediency at the Major League level? Any and all of the above.

When it is a 'player(s) to be named' situation, which I take this to be, can you give us an idea as to what the process is like? Have you and the Dodgers agreed on a list of possible players? Is it a 'preliminary agreement with further scouting' type situation? If you are unable to comment directly on this trade, can you give us a general idea how those types of trades work? Thanks.

How utterly disappointing. Take the arguably smartest pitcher in baseball, a role model, a class act and an utter joy to watch play and give him to LA for two minor leaguers. It is utter agony to be a Padres' fan...

rmdoyle,According to an article in yesterday's Union-Tribune, the Padres have a list of five Dodger minor leaguers from which they can choose two. Kevin Towers said that cash considerations would only come into effect if injuries weakened the list.

Paul, I appreciate that you're willing to respond to the fans....So please tell me, if we dump payroll this winter (ala trading Peavy, Agon, Young), can you at least promise the fans that it will be to rebuild with real minor league prospects? It is really starting to become hard to be a Padre fan.

I didn’t mind losing at Qualcomm because upper level tickets were $5, and most other things were cheap….plus there was no expectation of winning. I grew up near the stadium, and would save up the money needed each week from doing odd jobs just to go to the games.

But with high ticket prices, and being told by management that they expected to be a contender this season, I am disgusted with this team and it’s management. I’m over it. For the first time in my life, I look forward to the football season more than I will to the next Padre season. The Padres have broken the heart that I always had for baseball.

Not really a lot of questions, mostly rants. But please know, you have fans that do care, and San Diego isn't going to stay as just a city that doesn't care whether we win or lose. We want to win, and we are tired of being the laughing stock of the MLB like Kansas City. We want a winner Paul, and even if the other guys you work with don't care, I know you do. Please help us true fans.

Sorry for the delay on the comments, everyone. Though I know a lot of them are similar, I wanted to post them all. I went to see my older son play soccer and then took my wife to dinner last night, so I didn't get back on the blog until this morning.

In my opinion the Pedro-Maddux-Unit-Clemens debate is a very interesting one. When I compare pitcher's careers, I like to look at the stretches where they were "on top of their game" versus the rest of their career. On one hand we have Pedro, who in my opinion had one of the most dominant stretches of pitching in the history of the game (1997-2003)where Pedro managed to pitch the following line:

Now, you can definitely make the argument for Pedro's 7 run year run being more dominant, but if you look at them they are actually quite close. Yes, Pedro was more effective rate wise, but Maddux was also able to average over 36 extra innings of production a year than Pedro, which means 36 less innings you needed to hand over to an inferior pitcher. Pedro still holds the edge in terms of effectiveness, but then you think about the difference in years I examined.

Pedro's stretch of dominance was over 7 years, Maddux's was double that! I mean the key for Maddux being the best of his era is that he provided so much production every year for such a long period of time. That 15 year stretch I refer to is better than most HoF pitcher's careers. When all is said and done that 15 year Maddux stretch will be superior to Pedro's entire career. By the end of his career, Maddux should also have close to double the innings pitched Pedro has, I mean health and longevity just favor Maddux greatly.

To me, there is no doubt when comparing these two that Maddux had the better career and brought superior value than Pedro in terms of production. Pedro had the best 7 year stretch of any of these great pitchers, but Maddux was able to be comparable in value over double that period. To me, the better comparison is between Maddux and Clemens, although Clemens steroid alegations certainly put a cloud on those comparisons.

Pail, as the Pads' only connection to their remaining hardcore fans, you do know that we deserve one tiny present for this pathetic season and that we all want Dirk Hayhurt called up and given a fair shot, right?

Doormats? Kansas City? Would you whiners shut the heck up. Didn't the Padres win the division in '05 and '06? You think it's easy to stay on top every year without a NY/Boston/LA payroll?

As for others asking why a team will sometimes get a PTBNL, another reason (and it sounds like it is not the case here) is if the team wants a player the other team just drafted. Rules say a draftee must stay in the drafting team's system for at least one year. Sometimes the PTBNL will be someone who is finishing up his year with his draft organization, and then when the year is up, he'll be named as the PTBNL. But, as a few have mentioned, this deal may be completed by Oct 15, so this isn't the case here.

And why is Belanger upset that Maddux was traded for something? What's Maddux going to get you the rest of the year? Nada. So trade him away, get a couple players and then if both Maddux and the Padres still think they're a good match, he can re-sign with them in the winter. The Padres would lose a draft pick, but they'd get back "the smartest pitcher in baseball".

excellent analysis Alex. What makes and made Maddux so amazing is his sustained greatness and the consistency of that greatness. Plus, he was a savvy hitter and base-runner and one of the best fielders of that position to ever play the game. I used to hate Maddux during the time with the Braves where they seemed to get strike calls on pitches that were 6 inches off the plate. But now you look back at the careers of Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz and how great they all were for so long, and you start to wonder if a team will ever have a rotation so deadly ever again.

Thanks for this blog and your candor on it. It's quite informative and interesting. Don't let the naysayers get you down, I believe you are doing an admirable job. (Well, enough brown-nose.) My question, if you can comment on it, is will Matt Antonelli get a September look? He's shown signs of life recently with his bat, and I would think a promotion would do wonders for his confidence. Thanks.

The PTBNL must always be announced within 6 months of the trade, and, as you say, no player can be traded sooner than 12 months after being drafted. In this case we have an Oct. 15 date, but even if that wasn't specified the deal would have to be completed before any 2008 draftees would be eligible. That's the Pete Incaviglia rule.

It would be very shocking if the Dodgers offered Maddux arbitration. Mr. DePodesta alluded to this earlier, but Maddux accepted arbitration from the Braves and shocked the heck out of them. The Dodgers would be looking at a 10 or 11 million dollar commitment, unless they pulled a Padre - Todd Walker move (one of the least classy decisions of the current regime). If Maddux decided to come back and the Padres were interested, we probably wouldn't lose a pick. But would it be wise to shell out another 10M for a league-average pitcher?

I brought up Hayhurst last week or so, and in my opinion he's a lock to get called up in Sept (I'm pretty sure there is room o nthe 40-man or at the very least it isn't hard to make a spot).

In 84 innings he's got 98 K's to 28 walks, which is quite impressive, so his performance is there. The story and gesture just puts icing on the top, but even without his personality and "fame" he'd still get the call-up, his performance warrants it

On the subject of Players to be Named later. Jack Cust was traded last year for a player to be named later. Has that player been named yet, and if not is there a deadline to complete this transaction? thanks in advance for any insight you may have on the situation.